Elevating and dumping body.



'UNITED STATES .1 l

orrio GEORGE W. LAIJLY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO LALLY COMMERCIAL BODY COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHU- SETTS.

ELEVATING AND DUMPING BODY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

To all whom it may concern v Be it known thatI, GEORGE W. LALLY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, and State of Maslike; while the invention is not limited thereto, it is well adapted for use as a part of a dumping automobile truck construction, wherein it is desirable to lift the entire body up to a greater or less extent, while tilting one end thereof up considerably higher than the other for dumping the contents out of the lower end. I

With this end in view, the invention consists in a novel arrangement of operating mechanism and a special arrangement of the lifting elements, whereby the first part of the lift of the body from horizontal position is effected easily and without undue effort on the part of the operator, or excessive strains on the operating parts.

An important feature of my present improved construction consists in the provision of an inclined wedge shaped member, se-

cured. to the body to be lifted substantially at the center thereof, which is so interconnected and so combined with ,a form of toggle mechanism at each end of the body, and all three lifting devices are so arranged with a single source of power, that both toggle mechanisms, as well as the inclined wedge shaped member are in continuous, c0- operative lifting action from the inception of the lifting movement until the same is completed.

The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and will be thereafter pointed out in the appended claims.

I Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a' plan view of an apparatus embodying my lifting mechanism, certain parts being shown The pivotal connections 27 are also .broken away and in section; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

A vehicle framework, which may be the chassis of an automobile truck, is shown at 10, and is provided with a series of spaced apart transverse sills 11, which in practice are usually considerably longer than the frame is wide so that they project over both sides thereof. A body 12 of any usual or desired form is adapted to rest on these sills, and to be tilted about its rear end, shown as the end at the right in the figures of the drawing. The operating means for the elevating and tilting mechanism is shown as a threaded shaft or screw 13 journaled and held against endwise movement in bearings 14, 15 of the frame, and having geared connection. at 16 to a transverse shaft 17 likewise mounted in the frame, this typifying any suitable hand or power operated connection. The screw 13 which, as seen in Fig. 1, extends lengthwise of the frame centrally thereof, has threaded thereon a nut 18 connected by thrust bars 19 to the bearing brackets of rollers 20, which are adapted tomove along trackways provided therefor on the frame. These bearing brackets of rollers .20 are also connected to thrust bars 22 which cam trackways 24 fixed beneath the body.-

The inclined ways 24have their bases or lowest portions 25 at a point substantially midway between the ends of the body, and

extend thence toward the rear of the body as seen in Fig. 2. The bearings of rollers 23 are also connected to one end of bars 26 and the other end of these bars is pivotally connected, as at 27, to links 28 extending at somewhat acute angles thereto when the body is lowered, being pivoted beneath the body at a point considerably to the front of the longitudinal center thereof, as seen at 2 9.

with thrust bars 30, pivoted at 31 to fixed pivot points on the frame. The beginning of the lift and tilting of the body by the mechanism described, and as presently to be explained, is accompanied by a certain amount of rearward thrust on the body and to resist this, and also to steady the body engaged transversely in its elevating movement, I

preferably provide bars 32, 33 at either side.

of the body pivoted thereto and to the frame respectively, as seen at 34, 35, and having their other ends oiIied by a clamping pivot 36 adapted to permit free relative pivotal movement of these bars, or to clamp them rigid at will.

In operation, starting with the body resting on the frame, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the moving of the nut 18 along the screw 13 to the right, causes the thrust bars 22 to start a movement of the rollers 23 along the ways 24, which movement it will be observed, is toward the rear from the central point 25 of the length of the body.

This movement through the bars 26 causes a movement of the pivots 27 to the right, thus starting to straighten the toggle formed by the links 28 and bars 30, and as the pivot points 29 are relatively near-the front of the'body and remote from the tilting axis,

and as the power impulse imparted by the pull of the bars 26 is a relatively powerful one in the direction in which it is imparted, it follows that the initial impulse for beginning the tilting of the body is one effected with more or less power without requiring an excessive amount of energy from the prime driving means. This initial movement being apt to cause more or less end thrust on the body, I preferably provide means to resist such thrust, and the bars 32, 33 serve this purpose, since at this time they lie nearly side by side at a very acute angle, as shown.-. The range'of movement of the rollers 23 along the inclined ways 24 is limited by the movement of the links 28 up to about the position Where the toggle 28, 30 is straightened or moved a littlebeyond this position, but this movement is suflicient even with only a relatively small incline of the surfaces 24 to cause a substantial lifting of the rear portion of the body, forthe reason that the lifting action is exerted so close to the longitudinal center 25 of the body.

, The bars 32, 33 in addition to their function of resisting the endwise moving of the body at the beginning of the lift thereof, also serve to steady the body in its lifting movement, and by means of the clamping pivot 36 furnish a support for the rear end of the body at any desired position of elevation. The described mechanism, therefore, enables the beginning of the tilting movement of the body to be readily and conveniently accomplished, by exerting an effective leverage thereon from the start, and by the operation of the same parts enables the rear end of the body to be lifted to the desired elevation. It will be understood that after the rollers 23 have moved through their range of movement up the ways 24 and the toggle -formed by the links 28 with the bars 30 is substantially straight, as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 2, a further lifting movement may be eflected by the continued movement of the nut 18 serving to further straighten up the sets of bars 22, 30, these being caused to simultaneously approachthe vertical position by the connecting bars 26 therebetween. This continued lifting further tilts the body by reason of the greater length of the bars 30 as compared with the bars 22.

It is to be understood that the described embodiment of the invention is illustrative and not restrictive as to details, and that the invention in its broader aspects is susceptible of other forms and is therefore to.

be broadly construed without limitations, except as set forth in the appended claims.

Having" described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a "ehicle frame and a tilting body thereon, of means for tilting said body about a pivotal connection substantially at the rear end, comprising a wedge member secured approximately to the middle of said body and depending rearwardly, and a toggle member to raise the forward part of said body, a thrust member connected with a link to actuate said forward toggle and simultaneously to move progressively upon said middle wedge, both forward toggle and wedge mechanism being operative to lift the body during the entire lifting movement, and means to actuate said lifting mechanism comprising a longitudinally extending screw.

' 2..The combination of a support and a body mounted thereon, of means for lifting said body comprising a central longitudinally extending screw, members movable horizontally on ways at the sides of the support and connected to said screw, lifting bars extending diagonally upward from said members and having rollers on their ends engageablewith; an inclined downwardly and rearwardly projecting member from the body just to the rear of the center thereof, and link connections from said rollers to a toggle connection from the support to the body, said toggle connection being engaged With'the body toward the forward end thereof.

. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE W. LALLY.

Witnesses JAMES R. HODDER,

R. J. HERsEY. 

